


The Best Is Yet To Come

by TheSmoose



Category: Iron Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Child Abuse, Drug Use, F/M, why is it so easy to make Howard a complete douche?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-04 23:49:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3097100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSmoose/pseuds/TheSmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, this used to be a Tonasha (Tony/Natasha) but due to personal reasons, I've changed it to Pepperony. Sounds a bit daft but it was too difficult to continue with Natasha.</p><p>Tony is the school bad boy, the class clown, and Pepper is the savior he always needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Okay, this is a bit weird. This used to be a Tony/Pepper fic with the same title, however because it was based on an RP between me and my now ex-girlfriend, I deleted it, and I’ve converted it into a Pepperony story. If you were following when it featured Pepper, I’m very sorry to whip the rug out, but it was too difficult to continue, and at the same time I didn’t want to give it up.

Anyways, here we go!

* * *

 

It was half past ten and Tony was already bored. He’d been thrown out of one lesson and told to report to the principal’s office, which he hadn’t done, because let’s face it, unless he was dragged there by a teacher, he wasn’t going to step foot in that office. Instead, he’d found a nice quiet spot under a tree in the courtyard, rolled himself a joint, and closed his eyes as the sun washed over him. Flashbacks of the previous night flitted behind his eyelids every now and then, but a few drags on his joint quickly cleared away any notion of his father’s angry fists. Even the bruises on his ribs didn’t seem to hurt that much anymore. He must have sat out there for a good hour before he heard the bell ring to signal that it was lunch time. Flicking away the ash and stubbing out the joint, he stretched, wincing only slightly as the pain throbbed back to life, and stood up slowly, thinking about who he could sponge a few bucks off for lunch, when someone walked into the courtyard. It was a girl, he thought he recognised her from his Math class, but he didn’t acknowledge her as she walked past him. He thought he could see a faint blush in her pale cheeks as she went to sit underneath one of the trees dotted around the otherwise deserted courtyard. He watched her, knowing it was making her feel uncomfortable to have his eyes boring into the back of her head as she unpacked the dorkiest lunchbox he’d ever seen, and he smiled at the thought. She was pretty attractive, he mused as he slowly sauntered over to the same tree she sat under, long dark brown hair, gorgeous green eyes, shame she was such a nerd or he could have taken a liking to her.

“Hey.” He said when he got to her, sitting down next to her, just this side of her personal space. “So, you gonna give me half of that sandwich or what?” he asked, looming over her shoulder to see what was inside the lunchbox.

“Uh, no.” she snorted derisively, the blush on her cheeks deepening further, and Tony grinned. The girl had attitude, and he liked that about her.

“What’s on it?” he asked, grinning annoyingly at her. “Ham? Cheese? I’m hungry enough to eat anything really, so-”

Pepper sighed, as if it was taking major effort just to listen to him. “If I give you half my sandwich, will you leave me alone?”

Tony grinned and nodded, saluting her. “Scout’s honour.” He said, eagerly taking the sandwich from her and cramming it into his mouth. He hadn’t eaten in nearly a day, and the peanut butter stuck deliciously to the roof of his mouth. He groaned softly, finishing the sandwich in seconds and licking his fingers. “So, what’s your story?”

Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed again. “I thought you were going to leave me alone?”

“Well, ya see, I’m not really a Boy Scout.” He shrugged. “So technically, I lied.” He pulled out some tobacco and a small, see through, plastic bag, sprinkling some of the contents into the cigarette he was rolling and lighting it up, inhaling deeply. “Wanna puff in return?” he asked, holding the join out to her and grinning again. She scowled at him and tried to ignore him, taking an angry bite of her sandwich, to which he laughed. “Damn, babe, you got a stick up your ass? Want me to pull it out for you?”

“I just don’t smoke.” She growled, wafting her hand as the smoke drifted into her face. “And you shouldn’t either, especially not _that_ stuff.”

Tony snorted and took an extra-long drag. “Cry me a river.” He huffed, looking away for a moment, up at the sun. “So, your name’s Pepper, right? What’s your story, sweet cheeks? How did you end up with such a weird name?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, finishing off her chips and draining the small carton of milk she had left. “Yeah, my name’s Pepper, and you’re Tony Stark, and I don’t have a story, so why don’t you just leave me alone?”

Tony sighed and threw his head back obnoxiously before standing up. “Fine, ‘scuse me for trying to make conversation.” He muttered before waving to one of his friends coming around the corner. “Hey! Asshole! We out tonight or what?”

Pepper watched him leave, feeling slightly guilty. She wasn’t exactly the most popular of girls at the school, which is why she tended to eat alone in the courtyard, and she’d been rude to the only person to speak to her in days properly. Granted, he wasn’t exactly Mr Personality himself, but he’d tried, if only to get some food. She promised herself that next time she’d be nicer to him, if there was a next time.

* * *

 

Tony managed to make it through the entire day and most of the next morning without getting thrown out of class again, but when he was thrown out, he still didn’t make it to the Principal’s office, instead finding a group of his friends who were trying to pick the lock on the front gate out of the school, with little success. They were never going to get the thing open, more likely they’d get caught in the act, but the rush from knowing he was going to end up annoying someone was too good to resist. And he got a few deals in along the way, earning his pocket money for the week and hopefully enough to get _his_ dealer off his back. He’d just turned around to make sure no one was watching them, when he caught sight of Pepper rounding the corner to head towards the gym. Given that the last time they’d spoken, she’d been a bit of a bitch to him, he smirked and nudged his friend.

“Hey, watch this.” He whispered before hollering to Pepper. “Hey! Pepper!” he waited until he had her attention before grabbing his crotch and his friends fell about laughing. “Want some of this?”

At first, she’d actually been quite happy to see him, and then he made fun of her and she’d never wanted to kick someone more in her life. She blushed furiously and scowled at him, turning away and heading to her usual lunch spot under the tree as quick as she could. If asked, Tony wouldn’t have been able to say why he’d done it, just that he thought it would have been funny, and he needed to keep his friends entertained. As it was, they never did make it out of the school gates. The janitor caught them in the act and they all made a break for it, Tony running right into the path of Pepper’s lunch spot, panting heavily as he stopped running.

“Hey, there you are.” He panted, as though he’d meant to run into her. “What culinary delights have we got today?”

Pepper didn’t answer him, merely turning away slightly and silently chewing on her sandwich. She was annoyed at him, not for the fact that he’d made fun of her – enough people already did that – but for some reason it was more that it was _him_ that had made fun of her that hurt more. He could tell she was annoyed, and he sighed as he sat down next to her. “Come on, don’t be sore about the whole crotch grabbing thing.” He said. “It was just a joke, don’t be such a…girl.”

Her eyebrows were still furrowed, but she laughed and relaxed a bit at his joke. “Last time I looked I didn’t have a choice.” She replied, raising a hand before he could speak. “And no, you can’t check!”

Tony bit his lip after trying to speak and laughed again, leaning against the tree and pulling a questionable cigarette out of his jacket pocket. “See, you lost the stick after all.” He chuckled, lighting the cigarette and taking a puff. “Seriously though, you got any grub? Or money? I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

Her features softened a little at his latter statement and she lowered her sandwich. “What?” she asked, her face full of confusion. “You seriously haven’t eaten since yesterday? Why not?”

He realized he’d let a little too much of his personal and home life slip through with this conversation a little too late and quickly tried to back pedal, swallowing nervously.

“Uh…there…just wasn’t a lot of food where I was.” He said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d been turfed out of the house and spent the night in the coal shed. He blushed and tried to hide the soot stains on the hem of his shirt, the same shirt he’d been wearing for the last two days. Pepper’s frown only deepened at this, and he desperately prayed that she wouldn’t ask where he’d been, which of course, she did, and he blushed again while trying to think of a story to tell her. “No big, I just had an argument with my Dad and had to stay someplace else.” He shrugged.

“Where?” she asked, handing over an apple and a bottle of mineral water – the only things she had left, which he gratefully accepted.

“My pal’s house.” He said, and then to throw her off the trail. “Thanks. For this I mean.” He gestured to the apple as he took a massive bite out of it. “And sorry for earlier. I have a slight control problem, in that I don’t have any.” He smirked at her.

She blushed at the look he gave her and shook her head. “It’s okay, and I understand. At least you talk to me. I mean, I’m not exactly trying to be a social butterfly or anything, I just mean…you’re not the worst.” She blushed again and caught his eyes for a moment before looking away, kicking some gravel with her shoe. Tony grinned wider at this, crunching down on his apple.

“I get it, you dig me. Nothing to be ashamed of.” He winked at her, causing her to turn even redder. He handed her the bottle of water for them to share and sighed. “So, what’s your story?”

She laughed, taking a sip of the water, hyper-aware that his lips had just touched the same plastic. “Um…I’m sixteen, I live with my aunt, my parents died when I was eight, I like ballet….that’s about it.” She said, handing him back the water bottle, their fingers brushing against one another’s. “What’s yours?”

He winced a little at the mention of her parents, knowing that for most kids it was a bad thing to see them die. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled as he took the bottle back, but she waved his apology away, urging him to continue as he took the bottle back and chugged the rest of the water. “Sixteen as well.” he said once finished. “Supposed to be graduating this year but I doubt my grades will pick up. Besides, you don’t need a diploma to get girls and blow.” he grinned, purposefully leaving out any mention of his family. He was about to continue when the principal appeared and headed straight for him. “Oh crap, the warden.” he cursed, standing up. “See ya tomorrow babe.” he said before darting away, the principal hot on his heels.

Pepper was left holding the empty water bottle, wondering if that had really just happened. He seemed a much nicer guy than she’d initially thought, and if she was honest with herself, she liked him. Maybe a little too much. She waited for him the next day, under ‘their’ tree, but he never showed. She wondered briefly if he’d not been serious when he said he’d see her tomorrow, perhaps he was only using her to get fed, but when he still hadn’t turned up on the third day, she went looking for his friends, asking if they knew where he was. She didn’t get an answer, they merely laughed at her and asked if she was his flavour of the week, to which she didn’t know the answer, but even so, she couldn’t shake the feeling of worry that gripped at her. But with no way of contacting him, all she could do was sit by the tree and wait, praying he’d show up.


	2. Chapter Two

He still hadn’t turned up the first day after the weekend, and Pepper was getting really worried. No one else seemed to be, not the teachers or the Principal, regardless of how much she pleaded with them to go to his house and check up on him. Finally, a full week after she’d last set eyes on him, he came limping over to her lunch spot, and she gasped at the sight of him. He’d clearly been beaten up at some stage – his right eye was blackened, one of his hands was wrapped up with a splint, and by the looks of things he’d done something to his leg. He was smiling as he walked up to her, or as much as he could with a split lip, hobbling towards her as she stood up.

“Hey.” He greeted as usual. “You been sat here all week?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood, but he knew she wouldn’t have any of it.

“Tony…” she whispered, reaching out for him but thinking better of it and keeping her hands by her sides. “What the hell happened to you?!”

Tony shrugged and gently eased himself down under the tree, waiting til she’d sat next to him before he spoke again. “Got into a fight with my dealer.” He huffed, smiling valiantly at her. “What’s with the closeness? Trying to get fresh with me?”

Pepper shook her head and leaned closer to him, staring him dead in the eye. “Tony, tell me who did this to you. What happened?”

He should have known that she wouldn’t buy it. The cut on his lip was only a few hours old, but the bruising on his eye was from Friday night. He sighed and scratched the back of his head before giving in. “Old man didn’t like me being ‘a little prick’ in school.” He said. “The Principal called, so when I got home I had a lovely beating waiting for me.” He grabbed her water bottle from her stunned fingers and pulled a small bag of pills from his pocket, swallowing two in one go.

“What?” Pepper gasped, flabbergasted at what he was telling her. “Your father did this to you?” she noticed the bag he pulled out and grabbed it from him.

“Hey!”

“Tony, you have to tell someone about this.” She hissed.

“I did! I told you. Now gimme those back-”

“No.” she said stubbornly. “You need to tell-”

He angrily stood up, glaring at her. “I don’t _need_ to do anything.” He growled. “I’ve been looking out for myself since I was a kid, I don’t need you or anyone else to try and help.” He snatched the pills back out of her hand with his good one, shoved them in his pocket and stormed off, leaving Pepper with tears in her eyes as she called after him.

She didn’t see him for the rest of the day, but after pretending that he’d left some math homework behind, she managed to get his address from their teacher and headed straight there after school. She was shocked when she approached the large iron gates, shielding the huge mansion from the rest of the world. This couldn’t be right, did Tony really live here? She approached the gates cautiously, noticing an intercom attached to the wall. Swallowing her nervousness down, she pressed the buzzer.

“Stark Mansion, Jarvis speaking, how may I help?” an English man’s voice came through the machine.

“H-hi, um, I’m looking for Tony.” She said softly.

There was silence for a few moments before another buzzing noise happened and the gates started opening. Pepper slipped through them quickly and made her way up the winding gravelled driveway. This was getting weirder by the second. Tony must live here, given what the man on the intercom had said, but she still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that he came to school looking like he’d slept rough and scrounging food from her. Though, she reminded herself, it probably had something to do with his father. She stopped when she got to the door, thinking for the first time about the fact that his father could very much be inside the mansion, and she didn’t really want to meet him, but before she could do anything, the door opened and a man who must have been the butler given the way he was dressed stepped through it.

“Master Stark is not yet home.” He told her, revealing himself as the English man from the intercom. “You may wait in the lounge if you wish, but I would ask that you remain quiet as Mister Stark is asleep.” He looked quite nervous, as if the thought of the man waking up was scaring him. Pepper nodded quickly and sat down on the plush leather sofa in the lounge, looking around as Jarvis vanished once more. It wasn’t exactly what she would call homely. It was very much a show home, no family pictures, no evidence that anyone other than someone old and rich lived there. There wasn’t even a TV in the lounge. Pepper briefly wondered where Tony’s mother was, but she didn’t have much time to ponder as barely ten minutes after she arrived, the front door opened and closed and Tony – looking much more beaten up than before – hobbled into the lounge and stopped dead at the sight of her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice rough. His split lip was now open and bleeding, as was a fresh cut around his bruised eye, matching another flaring up on the other side. He was holding his right shoulder with his bandaged hand and his limp had gotten worse. Pepper jumped up and rushed over to him, forgetting any pretence of homework, tears springing in her eyes as she reached for him.

“Oh God, Tony, who did this to you?” she gasped. “You need to go to hospital-”

“You need to leave.” Tony grunted, grabbing her arm and dragging her back to the door, Pepper protesting all the way.

“No! No, Tony, stop it!” he struggled against his grip and finally managed to wrench her arm free. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“Master Stark.” Jarvis appeared in the doorway looking frightened. “Your father is awake and has…requested your presence in his office.” He looked genuinely apologetic. “I’ve managed to buy you some time, but you know-”

“I know.” Tony snapped, breathing hard and straightening up. “Jarvis, get her out of here.” He ordered before brushing past them both as best he could and heading towards the stairs.

Pepper rushed forwards again, stopping him in his tracks. “Tony, please, just come with me.” She begged.

“Tony! Get your worthless ass up here, right now!” his father’s voice boomed from the top of the stairs and Tony flinched, looking like a caged animal.

“I can’t.” he muttered. “If I leave, he’ll just come looking for me, which is why you need to go. Jarvis!” Jarvis stepped forwards and firmly grasped Pepper’s shoulders as Tony began to climb the stairs.

“Why aren’t you helping him?” she hissed at Jarvis as he practically dragged her towards the door again. “You just stand there and let him beat his own son-”

“You don’t understand how he is.” Jarvis said gruffly and then looked away for a moment. “I’ll bring him to you once everything has calmed down, but for now you need to leave.” He opened the door for her. “Go, now, but be prepared, you won’t like what you see.”

The door slammed in Pepper’s face and she merely stood there for a few seconds, trying to process everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. She didn’t realize she was crying until tears began to drip onto her books. When she realized that Tony wasn’t about to come out any time soon, she turned and slowly made her way home. She waited for a good hour, pacing her living room until finally she heard a car pulling up to the house. She ran to the front door and flung it open, hands flying to her face when she saw the state Tony was in. Jarvis was having to hold him up, both his eyes were swollen shut, blood slowly dripping from his nose and his bandaged hand. The front of his shirt was covered in blood from the now dripping wound on his eye.

“Oh, Tony…” she whimpered, stepping aside to allow them in. “Follow me, we can take him to my room.” She led the way upstairs, thankful that her Aunt was out of town. Jarvis laid Tony down on her bed and he let out a soft groan of pain, slumping back. Pepper was at his side immediately, trying to soothe him. “Hey, it’s me.” She whispered, stroking his hair softly. “I’m gonna take care of you.”

Tony didn’t answer when she spoke, but he tried valiantly to smile, reaching for her hand. Jarvis cleared his throat and swallowed. “It’s probably safer if Master Stark doesn’t return home. His father was in a fury this evening. I’m sorry I couldn’t help him more.”

“It’s fine.” Pepper said softly, not taking her eyes from Tony. “Thank you for what you did do. Can you let yourself out?”

Jarvis nodded and backed out of the room, leaving them alone. Pepper sighed and got up to get the first aid kit from the kitchen, praying that Google could tell her the best way to treat his cuts. Her heart ached for him every time she caused him to groan from dabbing his wounds, but once she was done he looked a little better. She was worried about his hand, but the splint was still holding, and there wasn’t much she could do for broken fingers. He needed rest. She packed the first aid kit away and stood, but his hand on her arm stopped her.

“Th-thank you.” He whispered before his eyes closed that little bit further and he fell unconscious. Sighing heavily, Pepper quickly cleaned up before heading back to the bed and studying his face. She couldn’t really make out his features from the swelling, but she liked to think he looked a little more peaceful than he had in the last few days. After grabbing her sleeping bag out of the spare room, she arranged it by the side of her bed on the floor and hunkered down to sleep, making sure she was near him if he needed her.

* * *

 

He was out cold for hours, but when he did wake up it was dark outside. He groaned softly and tried to sit up, but his ribs ached so much that he gave up and flopped back down, blinking slowly. Pepper, who’d been sitting against the bed reading a book, heard him wake up and scrambled up, gazing at him.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t move.” She whispered. “How do you feel?”

Tony’s head lolled and he turned to face her. In the haze of pain and pain killers, and drugs he was still high on, he didn’t recognize Pepper. He squinted at her and swallowed, clenching his fists.

“W-why d’you let him do this?” he mumbled, tears brimming in his eyes. “You left, and he takes it out on me. Why don’t you come back?”

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, sitting on the bed beside him. “Tony, its Pepper.” She murmured, hand covering one of his fists. “It’s alright, you’re gonna be okay.”

Tony blinked, tears dripping down his cheeks as he stared at her. He realised who she was, and who she wasn’t, and instantly felt his heart fall into his stomach. “Mom…” he whispered and closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh before falling asleep again. Pepper frowned deeper, reaching up to wipe his tears away before carefully snuggling up to him on the bed and wrapping her arm around his middle, trying to soothe him. Eventually, she fell asleep in the same position, face buried in his shoulder, thumb stroking along his side. Subconsciously, Tony snuggled up to her while he slept, ending up with his nose buried in her hair. When he awoke again in the morning, he still felt like crap, but the effects of his delirium had worn off. Instead, he was a little confused as to why he was snuggling Pepper. Not that it wasn’t pleasant. She smelled good. “Pep.” he said gruffly, his throat burning and lungs aching.

Pepper jerked awake when he spoke her name - a diminutive form at that. Her cheeks burned when she realized she’d slept curled against him all night. “I’m sorry…” She offered lamely. “You were upset and I just thought maybe you needed…touch.” She explained, chewing on her lip, sitting up, red curls mussed up.

He grunted softly when she sat up, his body slowly reminding him of how badly he’d been beaten. “I was upset?” he asked. “What…where am I? What happened?”

She sighed, nodding. “You’re at my house. In my bed, actually.” She laughed quietly. “Your dad…hurt you. Jarvis brought you over. He said you shouldn’t come home. You can stay here with me, my Aunt’s out of town the whole weekend. It’s Saturday.” She whispered.

The memories came flooding back and Tony let out a breath. “Oh yeah.” he said, laughing gently. “Wow, that’s a first. Wonder what…report cards.” he smiled to hide his anguish over what had happened. “Well, thanks for putting me up, I’ll get out of your hair by Monday. Dad should have calmed down by then.”

Pepper studied him carefully, frowning. “He shouldn’t treat you that way, Tony.” She murmured. “I can help you. We’ve got an extra room.” She was serious, though she highly doubted her Aunt would allow a hormonal teenage bad boy to live under the same roof as her pretty niece.

Tony shook his head struggled up to a sitting position, gritting his teeth. “No, see I deserve it.” he said, breathing heavily. “It’s my fault she left. I was bad and she left, and now Dad tries to keep me straight but I’m too big a fuck up and I keep being bad, and…” he scrunched his face and ran a hand through his matted hair. “I’m bad, I deserve it.”

Pepper’s heart ached as she listened to him, shaking her head. She leaned in closer, pressing her lips just shy of his own, a reflex at comforting him. She’d never kissed a boy before now, but she couldn't hug him because it would hurt him. “You’re not bad.” She whispered.

“Then why did she leave?” he croaked out, tears burning his eyes once more. “She just left me, and Dad…” a tear broke free. “How come he doesn't love me? What did I do? I’m sorry, I didn't mean to…” he let out a little sob and shook his head, lowering it.

Her eyes filled with tears for him, and she snuggled up close. “I don’t know. I don’t know why. I’m so sorry, Tony.” She whispered over and over, wishing she could take his pain away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rocked him gently as he broke down and cried like he hadn’t been able to since he was tiny. He managed to get an arm around her and pulled her close, slumping back down and curling into her. He felt small, like a feeble kid, and his bad boy act was fading fast around her. She sniffled with him, kissing the tip of his nose and his lips, carefully as to not hurt him. Kissing him came naturally, even though she had no idea what she was doing. She murmured soothingly to him, stroking his hair.

He didn't realize she’d kissed him until about five seconds later and his eyebrows shot up. He breathed against her lips, tears still falling silently down his cheeks and his hand shaking at her side. “That…we've never done that before.” He mumbled, staring at her.

Pepper swallowed harshly and smiled a little. “I’ve never done that before, ever.” She whispered, hoping he wouldn’t tease her for it. “I just…thought it would help.”

Tony nodded and cleared his throat. “S’good, I mean you’re good, I mean…” he blushed a little. “You can keep going if you want.”

Pep blushed and smiled. He was flustered because of her. The thought sent a rush through her and she bit her lip before leaning in and pressing a slow kiss to his lips. If it made him feel better, then so be it. He made a soft noise and his eyes fluttered closed, his hand coming up to her cheek as he kissed back. For someone who hadn’t done this before, she was very good at it. “Pep…” he mumbled, smiling. And then his stomach announced it was hungry.

Pepper smiled back at him, laughing softly as his stomach growled. “Stay here, I’ll make you some soup.” She murmured, pressing another kiss to his lips before sliding off the bed and bounding down the stairs, her cheeks pink. The day was getting considerably better, Tony thought as he sat up a little and leant against her headboard. He looked around the room and smiled at just how normal it was. It was a typical teenage girl’s room, posters and stuffed animals littered the room, as well as pictures of what must be her family. He leant over as best he could and picked one up, showing her as a small child with her mother and father. He didn’t have any pictures like this, his father had destroyed them all.

“Wasn’t I adorable?” he turned his head and found Pepper standing in her doorway, holding a tray of soup and some bread. She stepped into the room, smiling as she approached him.

He grinned and nodded, brushing his thumb over the picture frame. “Still are.” he said without thinking and then blushed. “Thanks.” he added as she brought the food over. “You didn’t need to do any of this. I haven’t exactly been the nicest guy.”

She smiled and ducked her head, sitting next to him. “It’s okay. I’d be pissed at the world too, if I had to deal with what you deal with.” She sighed. “But hey, you’re the only one that even spoke to me at school, so that counts for something.”

He smiled again and took the tray from her, wolfing down the soup and crackers, letting it settle in his stomach as the first proper meal in days. “Thank you again.” he said, reaching out with his good hand to take hers. “I really…I want to be a good person.”

She smiled back at him, squeezing his hand gently. “You  _are_  a good person.” She murmured. She wished they could get away from here, together. She was smart, and was on her way to graduating this year. Maybe if she helped him, they could move in together. “Would you let me tutor you?” She questioned, lacing her fingers with his. “We could graduate, then…I don’t know, get an apartment or something.”

He blinked at her, truly dumbfounded at the level of commitment she was offering him. She was giving him a home and stability, something he hadn’t had for ages. He nodded and cleared his throat. “The tutoring isn’t the problem.” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help, but it’s…” he cast around for the words and sighed. “I can’t concentrate. I get distracted and the teachers think I’m doing it on purpose, so then it’s like why not? They expect me to.”

“But you want to be better, right?” she asked softly. “You want to graduate? You’re so smart, Tony. I’ve seen you scribbling away when you think no one’s looking, the stuff you come up with…it’s incredible. You could do so much if you could just focus. We’ll get you there, I promise.” She squeezed his fingers.

He nodded hesitantly and smiled. “I can try. I want to try.” he swallowed. “For you.” he said shyly. “You…I think about you a lot when I’m alone. I mean…that didn’t sound right, wait a second.” he said, wincing. “When I’m alone, I think about you, and I don’t feel so lonely.”

Pepper blushed deeply, giggling at how he stumbled over his words. She scooted closer and grinned shyly at him. “I feel the same.” She murmured.

There was something special about her, and be knew he was in trouble but he was looking forward to it. He leant forward and pressed another kiss to her lips, his ribs protesting as he did so. He grunted softly and pressed a little firmer, squeezing her hand. She made a small noise against his lips, not wanting to hurt him, but her body yearning for more. How much more, she wasn’t quite sure. She squeezed his hand back, moving closer. He smiled at the sound and pulled her closer, brushing his tongue against her lips and growling once she opened her mouth. He managed to arrange them so he was lying on top of her, beginning to get carried away.

She moaned as his weight rested on her, feeling just how into this kissing he was. She gripped at his shirt, tongue tangling with his. “I don’t wanna hurt you…” She murmured, panting.

He smiled and kept kissing, sliding his hand down underneath her pajama top to brush against her stomach. “You’re not.” he promised. “Come on, this’ll be fun.”

She shivered, loving the sensations he was stirring inside her, but also worried they were moving pretty fast. “Can we…can we slow down?” She murmured between kisses, panting.

He slid a leg over hers, pressing against her more and trailing his mouth along her jaw and neck. “Why? We’re almost there, pointless to stop now.” he mumbled.

“I’m just not sure I wanna…you know…yet.” She murmured, afraid to hurt his feelings or make him upset, but kissing was one thing…this was another.

He pulled back and stared at her for a second before raising his eyebrows. “Oh.” he said softly. “You’re…wow okay.” he smiled a little and removed his hand but stayed close. “I just assumed…sorry.”

She smiled back at him and kissed his cheek. “It’s okay. I mean…I want it to be special, you know?” She murmured, blushing. “But I think I want it to be with you. I mean…I know.”

He bit his bottom lip and swallowed. She wanted it to be special, but she wanted him? How was that supposed to work? He was nothing special. He was a fuck up, always using girls and never staying long enough to pick up the pieces. He didn’t want to be that with Pep, but how was he supposed to stop? “No pressure, huh?” he said with a small laugh. “You sure? I mean with me?”

She laughed gently and pulled him down to lay beside her, snuggling up to him. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She chuckled. “But yes, I’m sure. I’ve never…I’ve never felt this way before, Tony.”

Tony swallowed hard. He felt the same, but he also felt suffocated. He was always expected to fuck up, everyone knew he would, but she was still letting him get close, and she wanted to be closer. He couldn’t fuck up around her, or with her, and the thought made him panic.


End file.
